The physical exhaustion and injuries of FC Barcelona players due to the load of matches have forced Hansi Flick to make his first 'massive' rotation of the season. In the duel against Villarreal at La Cerámica, the German has introduced three changes compared to the starting eleven presented in Monaco in the debut in the Champions League: Gerard Martín for Alejandro Balde, Sergi Domínguez for Pau Cubarsí and Pablo Torre for Marc Casadó.
The '3' blaugrana, a starter in 4 of the 6 LaLiga matches, has made his second substitution of the season, since in the third matchday of the championship against Rayo Vallecano he also came off the bench to the detriment of Martín, who is making his second official start. For his part, Casadó, who ended the match in the Principality with a knock, is resting for the first time since Valladolid, giving way to Pablo Torre who starts for the first time this season.
Pau Cubarsí drops out of the list of 'untouchables'
More striking is the case of Pau Cubarsí, who is the first 'untouchable' of Hansi Flick to drop out of the list. Until this Sunday, September 22, the centre-back had played all six games played by Barça this season. However, due to the significant effort made in the Champions League match, the German decided to pace him out and gave way to Sergi Domínguez, who only accumulated a little more than 30 minutes in the match against Valladolid and who made his first start of the season in Villarreal.